A former gymnast, Heather McPhie has been competitive in the world of mogul skiing since 2001. However, it wasn't until 2004, at the relatively advanced age of 20, that she decided to pursue a career on the bumps and jumps full-time.

Since then the lady from Bozeman, Montana, has been making up for lost time, progressing steadily up to the conclusion of the 2012-13 season wherein her hard work paid off with a victory at the US National Championships.

Her World Cup career illustrates her workwoman-like climb. After several years of results mostly outside of the top-10, in the 2009-10 season her fortunes began to change, beginning on home soil at Deer Valley in 2010 with a victory that would also be her first career podium.

From there, Heather has racked up 13 more career podiums, including three more victories, and only appears to be getting stronger as time goes on. In fact, the 2012-13 season was the best of her career, as she came barreling out of the gate with back-to-back dual moguls wins to start off the year before registering three more podiums and one more victory through the course of the season. Her performance was enough to land her in 3rd place on the FIS Freestyle moguls ranking heading into 2013-14 and solidify her place as one of the top athletes in the sport.

At the 2013 Freestyle World Ski Championships in Voss, NOR, McPhie registered 4th-place finishes in both the moguls and dual moguls competitions, illustrating an ability to perform in the big events despite a disappointing 18th-place finish at the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

Her career arc is one that's been good enough to earn her a spot as the unofficial second-in-command to the great Hannah Kearney on the stacked American moguls squad. If the trend towards making strides in her speed and technical abilities continues, expect Heather McPhie to be right there, consistently battling for podium position throughout the 2013-14 World Cup season.